Visitation, funeral are Wednesday for Katherine Brown

Mar 01, 2010

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. — Katherine Brown, the mother of
Tennessee Tech head football coach Watson Brown and Texas head
coach Mack Brown, died Sunday morning at home after a battle with
pancreatic cancer. She was 81.

Funeral services will be Wednesday at 1 p.m. at Cumberland
Presbyterian Church, 565 East 10th Street in Cookeville. Pastor
Charles McCaskey will officiate the service, with burial at
Cookeville City Cemetery.

Visitation will be at the church Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 12:30
p.m.

The daughter of legendary Cookeville High coach Eddie
“Jelly” Watson and his wife, Mary Ellen, Brown was a
visible figure for Cookeville High School football and Tennessee
Tech after Watson was named Golden Eagle head coach in 2006.

Brown graduated from Cookeville High, where she was also an
athlete in her own right as a member of the Cavalierette basketball
team — coached by her father — as well as participating
in cheerleading, badminton and tennis. She continued her athletic
prowess later on in life as she
picked up the game of golf, winning several city and state
championships before going on to finish fourth in a national
seniors tournament.

Brown attended Tennessee Tech, where she met her husband, Mel,
then ran a sporting goods store with him. She later ran a dress
shop — Katherine’s — and was a manager at
Heritage Federal Bank from 1987 to 1993. Brown was also named the
first female president of the Cookeville Rotary Club.

Her sons, Watson, Mack and Mel, followed in her family’s
athletics heritage, becoming standout athletes at Cookeville High,
then accomplished collegiate athletes and coaches.

Brown is survived by her three sons, their wives Brenda, Reggie
and Sally, respectively, and
eight grandchildren: Ginny, Steven, Katherine, Barbara, Carrie,
Matt and Chris.

The family has requested that donations be made to the American
Cancer Society — 753 A Humble Dr., Cookeville.

The information for this story was provided by the
Cookeville Herald-Citizen and Crest Lawn Funeral Home.